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Title: Setsu Tsuboi Tanemura Interview
Narrator: Setsu Tsuboi Tanemura
Interviewer: Tom Ikeda
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: November 12, 2009
Densho ID: denshovh-tsetsu-01-0011

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TI: Now, after you mentioned earlier going to the Baptist church, I mean, after you returned to your father, did you start going to the Buddhist church?

ST: No, no. He decided that that was a good idea, my going to the... and his particular branch of the Buddhist church did not have a church in Portland. He belonged to a small branch, a smaller group, not like the larger one that's here in Seattle. And so he looked, my father looked for a church that he thought we could go to, because he felt that was a good thing. And so he looked around, and he found out there was a Catholic chapel that was not too far from our house that we could walk to on Sunday morning. And this was kind of hard on my sister, because she was, at that time, of course, thirteen, and she would be ready for, you know...

TI: Confirmation?

ST: Yes, yes. And she was the oldest one attending this Sunday school. Some of my friends went to this. So whereas the younger ones of this got the little cards and stories and we did little games and things and sang, she had a one-on-one with one of the nuns who was trying to convert her. And it was getting very difficult for her, and, you know, it was uncomfortable. And so we didn't stay with that too long. Except the one thing, very beautiful thing that happened to us when we went to that chapel was Easter Sunday came. And the nuns took us to the largest cathedral in Portland at that time. And you know that the Baptist church is very strict and ordinary, and the Catholic church was so gorgeous, and all the incense and the processionals and beautiful windows and the whole atmosphere. Of course, my sister had to have something covering her head, so one of the nuns took out a hanky and put it on top of her head. But it was, it was just, to me, I thought, "Wow."

TI: That's good.

ST: That made quite an impression.

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.